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If I can't find a used slat, I'm going to take one of two paths.
First, I'm considering just using 4 slats. That will leave the fabric slightly exposed when it's rolled up, but the nylon is pretty robust, water-damage wise. I thought this might cause a geometry problem, but on further thought I think the roller with roll to exactly the same spot against the shell.
Second, since the shipping costs on anything longer than 8' are prohibitive, I'm contemplating using three 7' sections to build the equivalent of a full length slat. I'd throw away the current damaged cloth edge slat, use one of the middle slats for the cloth edge, and put the three sections in place of a middle slat. If necessary, I could patch the three sections together with small doublers and solid rivets. When you look at the cross section of a rolled up roller and cloth, the case (made from the slats) is only touchig the cloth at the joints. There is plenty of room for rivets and a doubler without causing interference or rubbing.
The real issue is getting a new cord into the edge of the fabric. I don't know when ZipDee started using a poly tube in the edge, but in my 1975 that cord was cotton and is mostly gone. I ordered a new poly tube from ZipDee, but it's just a hair to large for the diameter of the existing sewn edge. I've ordered some 1/8" and 5/32" nylon tube to see if I can get that in there.
Zep
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